The Space Shuttle Atlantis announced its arrival at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in the early morning hours of 21 July 2011 with a double sonic boom. Just over three minutes later, the spaceship touched down on the runway and at 05:57:54 local time "wheels stop" was called for the last time. Atlantis and its crew had safely returned to Earth. NASA's space shuttles have travelled into orbit 135 times; this era ended today. The space shuttles have shaped US space policy for the last 30 years and have stood as an icon of human spaceflight for a whole generation.
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The small space shop on site at the Kennedy Space Center gives an indication of the fast-approaching end of space shuttle flights from the cape; everything is reduced in price. Although many people here on the ‘Space Coast’ are unsure about the coming months and years, the spirit needed to carry this historic space location into the future of spaceflight is unbroken. The day before the launch of STS-134, the press conferences were not just looking forward to the imminent mission.
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